Warfare in News

Posted on Thursday 27th March

The recently published Limbang Rebellion - 7 Days in December 1962 (Pen and Sword) by the award-winning Australian author Eileen Chanin, is to be launched in Kuala Lumpur this weekend.

The launch event, hosted by Badan Warisan Malaysia, will take place on Saturday evening attended by Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia, His Excellency Rod Smith PSM. Dr Chanin will give a public lecture entitled 'Historical Heritage and its Importance', during which she will introduce Limbang Rebellion.

Using eyewitness accounts and thorough research, Limbang Rebellion reveals what it was like to be thrown into an intense and unexpected conflict after a surprise rebel uprising took place in northern Borneo in December 1962, during which hostages were taken and threatened with execution.

Chanin was uniquely placed to chronicle the thriller-like tale of he oft-overlooked and somewhat
controversial Limbang Rebellion in Sarawak — the prelude to the Confrontation (the Konfrontasi) between Indonesia and Malaysia and a watershed event in relations between Brunei and Malaysia, as her
late father-in-law R H Morris (1915-2000) was the British Resident in charge of Sarawak's 5th Division in 1962. Morris and his wife Dorothy had been taken
prisoner by the Brunei rebels and were about to be hanged when they were rescued in the nick of time by a party of Royal Marines.

In a review of the book, which has also been described as 'the book that should be on your reading list', Globe and Laure; called Limbang Rebellion:

'A gripping tale of seven dramatic days that helped quell the initial North Kalimantan National Army efforts of taking over the whole of Borneo.'

Further Reading

Only £25.00

Limbang Rebellion

(Hardback - 256 pages)
by Eileen Chanin

In early December 1962 there was a surprise rebel uprising in northern Borneo. The leader of the anti-colonialist North Kalimantan National Army, Sheikh Azahari, mounted the insurrection that became known as the Brunei Revolt. It aimed to thwart Britain and Malaya's plan to combine the British territories of Borneo into a new Federation of Malaysia.

The river town of Limbang, an administrative centre in the British colony of Sarawak, became the pivot… Read more...

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Dates in History

WWI Spring Offensive - The Kaiser's Battle

21st March 1918

At 9.30am on 21st March 1918, the last great battle of the First World War commenced when three German armies struck a massive blow against the weak divisions of the British Third and Fifth Armies. It was the first day of what the Germans called the Kaiserschlacht ('the Kaiser's Battle'), the series of attacks that were intended to break the deadlock on the Western Front, knock the British Army out of the war, and finally bring victory to Germany. In the event the actual cost of the gamble was so heavy that once the assault faltered, it remained for the Allies to push the exhausted German armies back and the War was at last over.

Further Reading

At 9.30am on 21 March 1918, the last great battle of the First World War commenced when three German armies struck a massive blow against the weak divisions of the British Third and Fifth Armies. It was the first day of what the Germans called the Kaiserschlacht (‘the Kaiser’s Battle’),… Read more at Pen & Sword...